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Thursday, May 8, 2014

6 Mistakes you make as a Beginning Director Prt. 3

#5 Trying to sneak in extra rehearsal

You may think that if your actors just can't seem to hit all of their cues or remember all of their lines then the best fix is to just schedule a surprise rehearsal on Saturday or keep them way after time to run that scene just once more. You may walk around rehearsal and hear people running their lines and you just want to jump in and yell "for the sake of all that's holy project!!!" But you have to remember that your job is to run rehearsal. And outside of all of this rehearsal these people have lives and jobs. Sure you think if your were professional then you could get away with it. But rehearsal means money and salaries so the more you try to shove in the more your start making the theater coffers cry. And if you start to get the reputation of the director that wastes time and money...well this may be your only directing gig.

Quick Fix: Aim for as many hours of rehearsal as there are pages in the script. That includes your tech and dress rehearsals. Don't waste a second of that time. Come into the rehearsal hall with a list of things you want to get accomplished that day and let people know what they are. You get people feeling like a success if they know they've succeeded or exceeded an expectation. Also plan for at least two "holy crap" extra days in advance and let your cast and crew know that they are only in case rehearsal time is lost due to emergency.(weather or actor illness)

In the south this exceeds emergency and goes straight to Apocalypse!

#6 Not having Faith/Gratitude in your cast and crew

These people are giving up their time and sharing their talent with you. A lot of them are doing this for the first time or are just doing it for fun. If they feel like all you want to talk about is about how much they're not hitting the mark or how you think the show is going to stink then why should they give their all? If the first thing you want to do is pull in some of your acting friends as ringers to fix bad acting should they feel like you even respect their effort? If you never tell them thank you for all their effort to make YOU look good are they going to ever want to act for you again?

Quick Fix: Say thank you as many times as you can. Let your actors act without making them feel like they have you hands on their shoulders. They made the commitment to be there you should make the commitment to make sure they're the best they can be.

The measure of a good director...in the professional and the not so professional world...is not by the number of butts they can get in seats but how many people they can get to answer the phone when they're in need of work. To do that you have to leave people wanting to work with you. So get your stuff together before you walk into the hall and trust your people.